Monthly Archives: July 2011

Justine Curvengen has developed a number of great paddling films over the last few years, and has become well known for her series This is the Sea, a thrilling collection of sea kayaking adventure films. She recently expanded her paddling portfolio to canoes with This is Canoeing, and I bought this collection for Sean for his birthday last year. We were excited to find that one of the short films followed Canoeroots Publisher Scott MacGregor and his young son Dougie on a four day trip down the Petawawa River in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Dougie is excited to be on the water, and clearly loves paddling alongside his dad, except, perhaps when his little stuffed animal gets wet during a tricky rapid descent. Scott talks about some of the modifications he has made to his paddling style in order to bring Dougie along on these adventures, and the enthusiasm of both father and son is infectious. This film definitely got us thinking about the possibilities, and gave us some great ideas for keeping kids excitement levels high during uncomfortable conditions.

Like this:

Lately, I’ve noticed the subject of kids and adventure sports has been appearing with more regularity in the magazines and websites I visit. I think this is great, and hope it signals a trend towards understanding and encouraging independence in kids and a move away from the culture of fear that has been present in America for the last few decades.

Recently, Outside Magazine got in on the game with its Father’s Day issue. In typical Outside Magazine fashion, the series tends to lean a little heavy toward what gear to buy rather than how to actually get kids on the trail, but it’s great to see more mainstream magazines encouraging folks to seek adventure with little ones, rather than championing overprotective parenting. Check out their tips and recommendations for how to become an Adventure Dad here.

In what he described as a “monumental undertaking”, Aaron Teasdale, a Montana based writer-photographer, took his two young sons on a 6-week mountain bike backpacking expedition from Glacier National Park in Montana, to Banff National Park in Canada. Teasdale and his sons rode a massive triple-seater mountain bike, which allowed the two smaller boys to keep up with their father, but caused them to have to invent some tricky bike maneuvers to get over the many fallen trees that blocked the rough trail they were following. His wife Jaqueline accompanied them and towed along a BOB trailer that contained much of their gear and food. Check out these links below to follow his journey and see pictures of a VERY cool family-style mountain bike.